PESHAWAR - The past two months has seen an upsurge in violence unleashed by Pakistani Taliban in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the adjacent tribal areas bordering Afghanistan. The most recent was the brazen series of attacks on North Atlantic Treaty...
An Outside Insider Probes the Iranian Psyche
While in New York this fall for the UN General Assembly, conservative Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admitted to National Public Radio that he watches Western television: "Of course, I'm like the rest of the people. People like movies and shows."...
Iranian Leaders Debate Obama’s Policy Freedom
TEHRAN - Iranian national security officials and political leaders have been carrying out an internal debate over how much freedom President-elect Barack Obama will have to change US policy toward Iran, and those who have argued that he will not be able to do so have...
Thursday: 58 Iraqis Killed, 120 Wounded
Updated at 10:32 p.m. EST, Dec. 11, 2008Near Kirkuk, at least 58 Iraqis were killed and another 120 were wounded in the last hours of Eid observances. Although reporters have been observing the Eid, this blast was too significant to ignore. No other deaths Iraqi and...
Millions for Defense
A reminder, in case you needed it, that it is not 1794 anymore: Vice Admiral William Gortney of the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet has advised merchant mariners that there's not much he or his Combined Task Force 150 can do about the aggressive operations of Somali pirates off...
The Pragmatism of
Ethnic Cleansing
Barack Obama's election victory has inspired a windfall of comment, most of it euphoric, with some grumbling from the political Right and the small quarters of the Left that remain unimpressed, so I am hesitant to contribute to the chatter. There is one element of...
Beware the New Globalism
Gigantism is the handmaiden of modernity, or so we have been led to believe. In literature, future utopias are almost always characterized by a world government, on the grounds that presumably the people of earth have evolved beyond the narrow confines of nationalism...
Wednesday: 3 Iraqis Killed, 7 Wounded
Updated at 7:05 p.m. EST, Dec. 10, 2008Today is the third and last day of Eid observances and reports should return to normal tomorrow. Only three Iraqis were killed and seven more were wounded today. It is likely that more attacks did occur, but many Iraqi...
Hawks Campaign to Preempt Iran Talks
Anticipating the ascent of President-elect Barack Obama to the Oval Office, groups of hawks, among them neoconservatives, have begun to offer public advice on just exactly what the new administration should do to deal with Iran. Accusing Iran of a covert plan to...
Tuesday: 4 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 7:10 p.m. EST, Dec. 9,2008Eid observances continue in Iraq so reports of violence remain low. Only four injuries were reported throughout the country. No Coalition deaths were reported. Meanwhile, the U.S. military refuses to honor an Iraqi court order to...


